What Should Education Value?

April 20, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized

We talk a lot about the value of education, but the value of education is only as good as what education, as a whole, values.

As a student of life and the broader world, I have seen how many industries and disciplines, such as software engineering and project management, have improved by looking at what they value, and realizing that what they previously valued was not sufficient to improve dramatically. From this, the Manifesto for Agile Software Development came forth, which has profoundly impacted and improved how software and other technology is made.

What I appreciated greatly about the original agile manifesto, is that it does not negate the value of the previous paradigm. But, instead elevates a new paradigm. This reduces some of the false dichotomy that happens in our thinking. So, in thinking about what I see as important to value and change in the field of education, I used the same style. So, what follows is the Education SystemONE Manifesto of Values with a similar structure, which also incorporates similar themes.

Education SystemONE Manifesto of Values

Education SystemONE is discovering more effective ways of learning. Through our research and practice we have come to value:

Effort over talent
Giving over taking
Action over planning
Real over simulations
Humanity over culture
Innovation over propriety
Learning over teaching
Evidence over eminence
Openness over ownership
Competency over curricula
Application over assignments
Accepting uncertainty over predictability

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

Effort over Talent

While it is recognized that there are biological, including neurological, factors that affect our ability to learn and reach specific competencies, it is also recognized that everyone can learn, and that the effort made to learn is what determines whether there is improvement in the outcomes, and it is this improvement that should be focused upon. Although, this focus on effort should not be mistake for a belief that any type of effort will lead to excellence. It is critical that one works both “smarter” and “harder” to be able to gain the competencies that is the goal of their education.

Giving over Taking

While it is recognized that we all have needs and wants, and thus we must and should take at times, it is also recognized that we are part of our family, a community, a humanity, and a world ecology. Each of these are necessary to provide us with our needs and wants, and only if they are healthy can we be healthy. Thus, we strive to take actions that support the health of each of the Circles of Context that we exist within, and work and give how we can, to support this health.

Action over Planning

While there is value in determining how we plan to accomplish things, planning on its own leads to nothing. Thus we must value action higher than planning. Further, it is only through action that we can get further so that we can see what plans are necessary to continue our journey. And thus, when combined with the recognition of the rapid change and actual uncertainty of the world around us, we are often better to take a strategy of “Ready! Fire! Aim!”, then to end up in an endless loop of “Ready, Aim, aim, aim, aim, aim, aim…” And so we recognize that we can plan best, by using an iterative approach which is truly data-driven.

Humanity over Culture

While there is value in the individual cultures and contexts that each human exists within; none the less, it is more important for us to value humanity and help humanity as a whole, more than any form of tribalism that our cultures dictate. Further, while every person is unique in the totality of their DNA, upbringing, skills, knowledge, and beliefs, and with different measures in different contexts, will be greater or lesser than each other; we none-the-less recognize that the inherent worth of each human is the same, and each person has the potential within them to have a fulfilling life and contribute to the world. Also, while it is appropriate and important to take actions that helps oneself, one’s family, and one’s friends; these should not have a negative impact on the world, and we must strive to take actions that lead to the ultimate benefit of all sentience.

Innovation over Propriety

While tradition has brought humanity to the state it is thus far, we can not grow and improve without questioning the status quo. We must be willing to question anything and potentially everything to see if it is still serving us well, or if a newer way can prove better.

Learning over Teaching

While there is often benefit to being “taught”, and there is value to earning “a piece of paper” such as a diploma, degree, etc. We should not confuse the proxy of the piece of paper, nor what a teacher shares with students, nor even the assessment of a student with what is actually learned. Yet, we also know that these proxies can have value, and that we have no choice in using proxies to understand what someone has learned. But recognizing the limitation of knowledge that we have of other’s knowledge, we endeavor to be as careful as possible in our judgement of what has been learned and the value it has to students.

Evidence over Eminence

While teachers and other experts are recognized as critical sources of knowledge, we should not fall into the fallacy of argument from authority. Instead, all of us must have humility in our knowledge and abilities, recognizing that it is always possible for us to be wrong, and that only be having an open mind can we reduce the risk of thinking we are right, when we are not. Yet at the same time, to avoid the fallacy of argument from authority we also need sufficient skepticism of all that we hear from others, to not believe something that does not actually have merit.

Openness over Ownership

While all humans should have a right to receive credit and earn compensation for the work they have done, and have a right to own property, including intellectual property, it is also clear that those who have chosen to share their property, especially intellectual property freely have had a greater probability of doing greater good for the world than by taking a strategy of focusing on profit motives first. Thus we work diligently to be able to release what is created in an open manner that allows for free access to others so that the benefit of the education system is multiplied.

Competency over Curricula

We recognize that learning activities and the the time spent doing these learning activities are necessary to reach the goal of attaining sufficient proficiency in that which is being learned, but that there is more than one way to reach a sufficient proficiency and that the amount of time spent on learning activities does not inherently mean that one has gained sufficient competency in that which they are working on learning.

Application over Assignments

While at the beginning stages of learning, there is a need to practice skills and use repetition to remember knowledge, the ultimate goal of all learning activities is to have students gain skills and knowledge that they can apply to their lives in the real world. Further, there is a recognition that in traditional education, a great deal of student effort is not used to its full potential, because student work usually only serves as a contrived learning activity. Therefore, student work that is real will be valued higher than work that is contrived or simulated. And student work that benefits the world as a whole is valued even higher.

Accepting Uncertainty over Predictability

While there is a natural desire to stand on solid ground, we must recognize that to a degree all knowledge is uncertain. And that the best method humanity has discovered to solve this paradox is to have faith in the process of science and build our beliefs based upon evidence.

COVID:19 Scale of education loss ‘nearly insurmountable’, warns UNICEF

April 20, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized

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Girls talking together at their junior high school in West Papua Province, Indonesia

NEW YORK, 24 January 2022 – More than 635 million students remain affected by full or partial school closures. On the International Day of Education and as the COVID-19 pandemic nears its two-year mark, UNICEF shares the latest available data on the impact of the pandemic on children’s learning.

“In March, we will mark two years of COVID-19-related disruptions to global education. Quite simply, we are looking at a nearly insurmountable scale of loss to children’s schooling,” said Robert Jenkins, UNICEF Chief of Education. “While the disruptions to learning must end, just reopening schools is not enough. Students need intensive support to recover lost education. Schools must also go beyond places of learning to rebuild children’s mental and physical health, social development and nutrition.”

Children have lost basic numeracy and literacy skills. Globally, disruption to education has meant millions of children have significantly missed out on the academic learning they would have acquired if they had been in the classroom, with younger and more marginalized children facing the greatest loss.

In low- and middle-income countries, learning losses to school closures have left up to 70 per cent of 10-year-olds unable to read or understand a simple text, up from 53 per cent pre-pandemic.
In Ethiopia, primary school children are estimated to have learned between 30 to 40 per cent of the math they would have learned if it had been a normal school year.
In the US, learning losses have been observed in many states including Texas, California, Colorado, Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Maryland. In Texas, for example, two thirds of children in grade 3 tested below their grade level in math in 2021, compared to half of children in 2019.
In several Brazilian states, around 3 in 4 children in grade 2 are off-track in reading, up from 1 in 2 children pre-pandemic. Across Brazil, 1 in 10 students aged 10-15 reported they are not planning to return to school once their schools reopen.
In South Africa, schoolchildren are between 75 per cent and a full school year behind where they should be. Some 400,000 to 500,000 students reportedly dropped out of school altogether between March 2020 and July 2021.

Follow-on consequences of school closures are on the rise. In addition to learning loss, school closures have impacted children’s mental health, reduced their access to a regular source of nutrition, and increased their risk of abuse.

A growing body of evidence shows that COVID-19 has caused high rates of anxiety and depression among children and young people, with some studies finding that girls, adolescents and those living in rural areas are most likely to experience these problems.
More than 370 million children globally missed out on school meals during school closures, losing what is for some children the only reliable source of food and daily nutrition.

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Notes to editors:

Sources:

State of the Global Education Crisis report

National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (CRAM) Wave 5 and Department of Basic Education.

Tying shoes, opening bottles: Pandemic kids lack basic life skills

April 20, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized

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In a normal year, up to half of Christine Jarboe’s first-graders start school knowing how to tie their shoelaces.

But thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, school hasn’t been normal for more than two years. So when Jarboe welcomed a fresh crop of Fairfax County Public Schools first-graders to her classroom in the fall for their first full year of in-person learning, she made a disturbing discovery.

“You’d say, ‘Okay, can you show me how to tie your shoes?’ and most of them would just kind of look at me, like, really confused,” Jarboe said. “They really weren’t sure even where to start.”

It was one of many “missing skills” that Jarboe discovered among her students over the course of the semester. She expected them to show up behind where they should be in academic categories such as reading. But what she hadn’t counted on was that her children would prove unable to do things such as cutting along a dotted line with scissors. Or squeeze a glue bottle to release an appropriately sized dot. Or simply twist a plastic cap off and on.

In interviews with The Washington Post, teachers around the country shared that they were confronting similar problems, dealing with pre-kindergartners, kindergartners and elementary-school students — as well as some middle-schoolers — who arrived unprepared for the school environment. Online learning left children, on average, four months behind in mathematics and reading before this school year, according to a McKinsey and Company study released in early April.

But children of the pandemic also are missing a more basic tool kit of behaviors, life skills and strategies, including tying their shoelaces, taking turns on the playground slide and sitting still in their chairs for hours at a time.

Students’ grades are up, but their test scores aren’t, new data show

“There’s a huge gap that goes beyond the academics, it has to do with social and emotional components and just how to behave in school,” said Dan Domenech, the executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. “That is something young kids have not learned.”

As these issues persist well into the 2021-2022 school year, frazzled teachers — who know they must address basic behavioral challenges before they can begin to make up academic losses — are becoming creative.

A New York City elementary school imported “non-traditional” seats, including squishy red beanbags, that allow children to wriggle and squirm during lessons. Staffers at an elementary school in Oakland, Calif., weary of conflicts during recess, are training fourth- and fifth-graders as “safety leaders” to mediate between peers. And in Philadelphia, two teachers created a “literacy buddy room” in which fifth-graders and kindergartners pair off to read together, building literacy and relational skills at the same time.

In Fairfax County, Jarboe has kicked off a weekly shoelace tying contest. She provides laces to students who wear Velcro or slip-on footwear, and hands out small hourglass sand timers so children can time themselves. Since Jarboe began the competition two months ago, improvement has been rapid: As of early April, 17 of her 20 students have learned to fashion and dismember double knots with aplomb.

On a recent Thursday morning, 6-year-old Lucy Massey, wearing a pink headband, pulled a foot up to the seat of her plastic chair. She bent over a pink Converse and gripped the two ends of a hot pink lace.

“Count me off,” she told two friends, and the girls began reciting, “One … two … three … ”

Lucy’s fingers flew: First the left shoe, then the right. She blew a strand of hair from her forehead. Her friends chanted, “20 … 21 … 22 …”

“Twenty-four!” cried Lucy, triumphant, pointing to two perfect double knots and raising both hands for a star athlete’s fist pump. “Pretty good, huh?”

‘Little bickerings and fights’

Jenna Spear first noticed problems during story time.

Spear works as a teacher-naturalist for the Harris Center for Conservation Education in New Hampshire, visiting K-5 public schools in the state’s Monadnock region to educate students about nature. After a pandemic-imposed hiatus, she began visiting classrooms again this school year, offering lessons on topics as varied as birding and cartography.

Early on, she was watching a second-grade read-aloud when children began crushing forward, competing to be closest to the book. Spear sat back, feeling sad.

“Normally, when you read a story in second-grade, kids know to sit down so everyone can see the pictures,” Spear said. “But you’d have kids standing in front, like right in front, of everybody.”

As the year continued, she observed other patterns. Children easily grew frustrated with one another in group settings. They struggled with the concept of taking turns, pushing each other out of the way to see a caterpillar she was holding in her palm. And, when Spears walked the children into the woods for her traditional “quiet minute challenge,” they were unable to stay still and silent for even 30 seconds.

Public education is facing a crisis of epic proportions

Frank Keil, a Yale professor of psychology who studies how children interpret the world, said these kinds of issues are to be expected after the nation’s youngest students were deprived of more than a year of in-person instruction. “A huge part of early schooling in the U.S. is being socialized, learning to sit still and listen quietly,” he said.

Being away from other children affected students from all socioeconomic backgrounds, Keil added: “Even affluent children coming from families in which dynamic back-and-forth conversations with peers and adults are the norm may need time to learn how to sit still and be more passive learners.”

In California’s Oakland Unified School District, principal Roma Groves-Waters said her first weeks and months overseeing Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School this school year were pockmarked with small troubles.

She said “little bickerings and fights” broke out on the playground far more often than happened before the pandemic. Spats happened in the classroom, too, as children sat alongside peers for six hours in a row. Hybrid learning, Groves-Waters noted, required 2 ½ hours of continuous attention at most.

Things were especially difficult for incoming first-graders, she said. For these students, who had never before set foot in a school, the concept of walking in a line between classes — while refraining from touching other children nearby — was wholly foreign.

“Also, the idea of not talking out of turn, it’s like, ‘Wait for your turn! You’ll get a turn!’” Groves-Waters said. “Those poor teachers, they really felt the effects of the pandemic.”

Things are improving, she said, in part because the school started holding meditation and yoga sessions before and after lunch and recess to help children unwind. And Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary teachers trained fourth- and fifth-graders as safety leaders, instructing them in the principles of mediation.

“They help resolve the student conflicts,” Groves-Waters said, “because kids talk to each other better.”

Behavioral issues, albeit of a different kind, also are arising among older students.

Sean O’Mara, who teaches eighth-grade social studies at Keene Middle School in New Hampshire, said his students this year have no idea how to carry on a class discussion. Many — more than before the pandemic — prefer to work independently and are reluctant to share their ideas with others, much less venture into a discussion.

O’Mara thinks this is a legacy of online learning.

“During Zoom meetings, a lot of kids would not want to turn their cameras on, so they sort of retreated into anonymity,” he said. “There is still a segment of our students who would prefer to be quiet and [be] observers.”

In response, he devoted class time to explaining how conversations work: What body language signals, what to be thinking about while someone else is talking, how to offer civil disagreement. At the start of the year, he spent up to 20 minutes per class per day on these instructions. Now, as his students get “into a groove,” he can get by with a brief reminder.

“But we’re heading toward the end of the year,” he said. “My eighth-graders have to transition into high school … before they ever really got to know what it means to be a middle-schooler.”

Reading buddies and letter-writing

Teachers across the country are adapting — as they have done throughout the pandemic.

Amy Barker, a kindergarten teacher at Robert Morris School in Philadelphia, had an idea in the fall for tackling reading and behavioral problems in one swoop. Under the “Reading Buddy Program,” begun in September, Barker’s 13 kindergartners spend a half-hour every Friday afternoon reading books with teacher Jessica Scherff’s 13 fifth-graders. The students pair off and, taking turns, pick their way through whatever text they choose.

“It’s sharing the love of reading, getting kids to really enjoy sitting down with a book instead of their phone,” Scherff said.

“And it’s building the fifth-graders’ skills,” Barker added. “Without knowing it, they’re working on their literacy, and their comprehension, because the kindergartners are constantly asking them to explain.”

Both teachers said their students’ reading fluency has improved, the fifth-graders’ especially. And Tameron Dancy, the school principal, said the program has helped the older students gain social skills as well as self-esteem.

“When our older students are able to meet with, kind of take responsibility for, the younger ones, it just more rapidly develops that sense of leadership and responsibility in them,” she said.

The children also have become good friends, with the fifth-graders rushing to help the kindergartners open their milk cartons at breakfast. The program is going so well, Dancy said, that she wants to expand it to include first- and sixth-graders next fall.

And in Virginia’s Fairfax County, Jill Norris, a reading specialist at Stratford Landing Elementary, came up with her own way of teaching children that school should be enjoyable — adding a sprinkling of life skills along the way.

Norris, who enjoyed trading letters with her grandmother when she was a girl, turned her classroom into a post office. She placed a mailbox outside and promised students that if they left a letter in the box, she’d have a reply for them by next morning.

Norris has kept her promise, even though it has sometimes required up to two hours of letter writing in a night. She said the children’s handwriting and the substance of their letters have improved markedly over the course of the year.

“Dear ms. norris,” wrote a fifth-grade girl in a recent letter. “I know you neeD a Design for the reaDing room i got a iDea you ShouD Paint it [with pictures of] Book’s.”

“Dear Mrs. Norris,” wrote another student, a third-grade girl. “My Favorite Kind of books are grapic novels and I sometimes like Chapter books.”

“Dear Mrs. Norris,” wrote a second-grade boy, above a drawing of a cat. “I Love You.”

More on the pandemic and schools

K-12: Districts face difficulty luring covid-cautious parents back to school |Early puberty cases in girls have surged during covid, doctors say | These schools did less to contain covid. Their students flourished.

Higher education: MIT resumes mandate for SAT or ACT scores. Many other colleges have not. | Why U.S. Colleges Are Rethinking Standardized Tests

DMV news: As Washington relaxes coronavirus mandates, another variant spreads | Judge rules that a dozen Virginia students can ask for mask mandates but no more | Literacy scores show widening achievement gap in D.C. during pandemic

The Most Powerful Life Lessons From The Lion King

April 18, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized

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“Look inside yourself. You are more than what you have become.” ~ Mufasa (James Earl Jones) ~ The Lion King quote

What’s your favorite animated Disney movie? That’s such a hard question, right? When it comes to Disney movies, it’s so hard to commit, isn’t it? I get it.

But when I think of a movie that has shaped my life and that I continue to draw inspiration from, I have to say it’s The Lion King.

In fact, when I thought of a visual to represent what The Positive MOM brand, I chose to design a logo that represented the epic moment where Rafiki presents Simba to the pride.

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The Lion King - Disney Signature Collection

“The Lion King” follows the adventures of Simba, a feisty lion cub who cannot wait to be king, as he searches for his destiny in the great “Circle of Life.”

The film earned a Golden Globe® for Best Motion Picture—Comedy or Musical and inspired a Tony Award®-winning Broadway musical that is currently the third longest-running musical in Broadway history.

Every moment in The Lion King has significant meaning and purpose, and there about 89 minutes of valuable lessons we can learn as moms, as well as so many we can teach our children. It’s so exciting that today, August 29, the The Lion King roars to Its rightful place in the Walt Disney Signature Collection onBlu-ray™!

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D23 EXPO 2017 - Sunday, July 16, 2017 - The Ultimate Disney Fan Event - brings together all the worlds of Disney under one roof for three packed days of presentations, pavilions, experiences, concerts, sneak peeks, shopping, and more. The event, which takes place July 14-16 at the Anaheim Convention Center, provides fans with unprecedented access to Disney films, television, games, theme parks, and celebrities. (Disney/Image Group LA) JIM CUMMINGS, ROB MINKOFF, MARK HENN, ERNIE SEBELLA, DON HAHN, WHOOPI GOLDBERG, TONY BANCROFT

I learned so much about how the movie was made (and almost didn’t get made!) on The Lion King panel, the last day of D23 Expo, where executive producer Don Hahn, co-director Rob Minkoff, Mark Henn (Supervising Animator “Young Simba”), Tony Bancroft (Supervising Animator “Pumbaa”), Ernie Sabella (voice of Pumbaa), Jim Cummings (voice of Ed the Hyena), and new Disney Legend Whoopie Goldberg (voice of Shenzi) shared their favorite anecdotes and stories.

The Lion King is definitely one of the biggest animated films in history, with the most heart and classic humor. It’s a masterpiece that has stood the test of time.

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Top 10 Empowering Life Lessons From The Lion King

“Remember who you are!” ~ Mufasa (James Earl Jones)

Remember Who You Are ~ The Lion King quotes

“Look, kid, bad things happen, and you can’t do anything about it.” ~ Timon (Nathan Lane)

“Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance…You need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures.” ~ Mufasa (James Earl Jones)

“Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it.” ~ Rafiki (Robert Guillaume)

“Being brave doesn’t mean you go looking for trouble.” ~ Mufasa (James Earl Jones)

Being brave doesn't mean looking for trouble. The Lion King quote

“Hakuna Matata!” (And that’s Swahili for “No worries for the rest of your days!”) ~ Timon (Nathan Lane)

“Look inside yourself. You are more than what you have become.” ~ Mufasa (James Earl Jones)

“You can’t change the past.” ~ Simba (Matthew Broderick)

“We are all connected in the great circle of life.” ~ Mufasa (James Earl Jones)

“Change is good!” ~ Rafiki (Robert Guillaume)

Besides the legendary quotes, The Lion King teaches us unforgettable lessons about life and death, depression, shame, envy, betrayal, friendship, greed, respect, desperation, fear, leadership, sibling rivalry, love, devastation, forgiving yourself, and even marrying your best friend!

The Lion King choir - The Circle of Life at D23 Expo

Article taken from The Positive Mom

Inside The Lion King Story Room

Co-directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff present archival footage of five original story pitches.

o Circle of Life – See how color creates emotion and meaning in the film’s iconic opening.

o Simba & Nala – See how elements proposed in story meetings evolve into what appears onscreen.

o Simba Takes Nala Out to Play – …And, sometimes what seems funny in story meetings never makes it into the film!

o Hakuna Matata – Co-directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff sing, act and dance their hearts out as they pitch the “Hakuna Matata” sequence.

o Rafiki and Reflecting Pool – Co-directors Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff pitch a sequence that became the emotional heart of The Lion King to Producer Don Hahn.

The Lion King Music (Sing along!) & More

o “Circle of Life”

o “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”

o “Be Prepared”

o “Hakuna Matata”

o “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (1994 Academy Award®–winning “Best Original Score and Best Original Song”)

The Lion King Galleries

o Visual Development – Explore a gallery of striking artwork that inspired the movie’s look and feel.

o Character Design – Trace the development of the film’s unforgettable characters through early concept art drawings.

o Storyboards – Examine storyboards created in the development of “The Lion King.”

o Layouts – Feast your eyes on layouts created in the development of “The Lion King.”

o Backgrounds & Layouts – Journey through a gallery of landscape paintings that shaped the world of “The Lion King.”

Hurry and get yours!

We’ve been watching The Lion King as a family non-stop since I got my pixie-dusted advanced copy.

It’s been a joy to transport ourselves to the beauty of Africa, to dance the hula with Timon and Pumba, cry during that scene that may not be mentioned (and watch it without fast-forwarding), and learn from the wisest and most enigmatic baboon in history: my beloved Rafiki.

This moving story is rated G so you can watch it with your little ones and start these necessary conversations with them. I’m so excited that this heartwarming classic is coming out of the Disney Vault and into our homes. While at D23 Expo, during the live-action panel, we all screamed when we heard the legendary tune and words:

Nants ingonyama
bagithi baba
sithi uhhmm ingonyama

We were taken back to the opening scene of The Lion King and remembered once again how adorable cub lions are when they sneeze.

In 2019, a reimagined live-action film, helmed by Jon Favreau, will delight audiences with the thrilling retelling of the original tale utilizing groundbreaking technological advances—as only Disney can do. Seeing that exclusive preview of The Lion King live-action movie makes me appreciate the breathtaking animation of The Lion King, 23 years later. I’ll be sharing more updates as they come available.

For now, let’s watch our Blu-ray, Digital, and DVD combo-packs (in English, Spanish, and French) and enjoy soul-stirring music of the first original Disney animated film and my favoritEST of all time!

What is the most soul-stirring lesson you learned from The Lion King? Are you excited for The Lion King’s first ever Digital and Blu-Ray release? Make sure to share your thoughts and to follow along with #TheLionKingBluRay. For more information, go to Movies.Disney.com/The-Lion-King and Follow on Facebook!

Follow Up Articles

How Lion King went from a movie to a stage show
Behind the Curtain

JULIE TAYMOR ON THE LASTING LEGACY OF THE LION KING

ELTON JOHN’S SURPRISE PERFORMANCE AT THE LION KING

Family stories aren’t fairy tales — but kids still need to hear them

April 18, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized

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My father was always the storyteller in our family. Growing up, there were certain ones that became canon: the time his National Guard unit flattened an entire stand of trees trying to winch their tanks out of a swamp, or the night I was almost born on Manhattan’s FDR Drive.

And when I was a teenager, my dad told me about a night he was supposed to drive with his friend from New York City to his friend’s house on Long Island, and the car broke down. It was late, they couldn’t find a rental and my dad was ready to give up. But they finally found a car and arrived at the house around 3 a.m. That was the weekend he met my mom. Even after losing her to a long illness, my dad would still tell that story with joy.

Over the years, I’ve thought a lot about that particular tale. What if my dad had decided to go home? The story was wondrous, and it carried an undercurrent of anxiety. We were a family that was built on one lucky decision on a summer night in 1970.

Telling family stories is powerful, but not always in the way we think. Stories are a way of preserving family history, but more importantly, they create a sense of continuity and resilience, and — this is the thing we often forget — they build a framework to understand painful experiences and celebrate joyful ones.

“For almost any problem your family has, storytelling can help make it better,” says Bruce Feiler, author of “The Secrets of Happy Families” and “Life Is in the Transitions,” which chronicles his effort to gather stories from people across the country and identifies patterns that can help us all in times of change. “It can help your children in their life as they navigate changes. It can help parents grappling with work or health changes, or grandparents coping with aging and mortality.”

Parents who share stories about their childhood give children the knowledge that they are part of something bigger, and children who know more family stories may grow up with higher self-esteem and suffer less from depression and anxiety according to at least one small study. It can even help heal families who have faced trauma. But, like any other skill, family storytelling is a muscle that needs to be built.

It’s also not just about sharing the happy parts of our lives. Especially now, as the world enters the third year of the pandemic, we need to be willing to open up about painful memories, because it shows our children that they are not alone in going through something hard. The knowledge that their relatives and ancestors also had difficult times — wars, depressions, natural disasters — and made it through them can give children confidence.

“The more family members share stories with one another, the sturdier and richer their shared tapestry becomes,” says Dani Shapiro, author of the upcoming novel “Signal Fires.” “So often families carry unspoken burdens of secrecy and shame, and that shame leads to silence.”

Children pick up on these silences, even if they don’t know what is behind them. It’s not until “all the stories — the beautiful ones and the hard ones — are brought to light, that secrecy and shame is replaced by strength and a kind of liberation,” says Shapiro, who explores what happens when families hold back painful stories and secrets in her memoir “Inheritance” and her podcast, “Family Secrets.”

“When I speak about the power of storytelling, parents nod their heads and tell me they do this,” Feiler says. “Then I ask them, ‘When was the last time you told your children about something bad that happened to you?’ ” The way many parents scrub their stories of scary or painful details is a bit like the desire to sanitize a child’s environment, Feiler says. But if the environment is too sterile, children can’t develop the immunity they need. “We have this idea as parents that we don’t want to burden our children, but instead we burden them with ignorance,” he says. “Stories need to have some germs in them.”

So how do you build the muscle of storytelling in your family? Look to the elders, Shapiro says. “Create moments in which storytelling is possible. It doesn’t happen in the midst of a busy day or when everyone’s scrolling through social media on their phones. It requires some effort, perhaps even a family ritual.”

Children learn to tell their stories by listening to how their parents, grandparents and older relatives tell theirs. Whenever there are moments of contact with family members — dinners, gatherings, car trips — those are opportunities for storytelling, Feiler says — often with a built-in script. “You can ask, ‘How did you celebrate this when you were young?’ ” he says. If you’re stuck, try asking something such as: What did you wear when you did this? “Prom, graduation, school dance: It’s a foolproof opener for a parent or a grandparent.”

By nature, children are self-focused, so they like stories that relate back to them; like when a grandparent discusses their first day of school when a child is starting kindergarten. As a parent, I’ve found the phrase “tell me more” has powers that questions such as “How was your day?” and “Did you have a good time?” do not possess. Perhaps it’s because “tell me more” signals to your child — or to anyone else, for that matter — that you’re interested in the story itself, rather than the information within it. How we tell stories is, after all, as important as what’s in them.

And if you cannot be face to face, there are still many tools at your disposal. When the pandemic began and we had to cancel a planned visit to my dad and stepmother, I started emailing my father questions: “How did your parents talk to you about the war?” “What was it like to be the first person in your family to go to college?” A few weeks later, my stepmother would mail me back his handwritten answers. One of the things I discovered was how much growing up during World War II had shaped him. I learned about the pride he felt in how his family and community pitched in to the war effort, but also about how, as a child, he would watch the news reels at the movies or sit on the steps of his house listening to the grown-ups talk about how badly the war seemed to be going, and he would feel afraid. I had never known that, and it led to us talking about how my own children might feel, growing up during a pandemic.

For more tech-savvy storytellers, there are tools such as Dragon Speech, speech-recognition software that can be downloaded as a speech-to-type app. Feiler has also formed a partnership with Storyworth that sends weekly, handpicked questions from Feiler, based on his experience interviewing people about their lives, to grandparents, who record their answers and receive a keepsake book after a year.

The most important thing, Feiler says, is to meet the storyteller where they are, whether that’s through dictation, video, writing or being interviewed.

Finally, don’t shy away from the wolf in the fairy tale. “Just when everything is going wonderfully, along comes the wolf to muck everything up,” Feiler says. “Our instinct as storytellers, and certainly as parents, is to banish the wolf. But if you banish the wolf, you also banish the hero.”

The same goes for family secrets that might feel shameful. Life includes “a whole range of stories and memories, and I don’t think it’s healthy or useful to turn away from difficult things that happened, because they did happen, and they have an impact on us, whether we acknowledge them or not,” Shapiro says. In fact, it’s often the unacknowledged stories that have a greater effect, because they grow and fester in the silence, she says. “Once these difficult times have been given voice and space, they actually recede and just become part of the larger tapestry of a family’s life.”

When my children were very young, I didn’t tell them stories about my own mother, because she died when I was a teenager. I worried they would learn this could happen and be frightened. It was not until my 4-year-old son looked straight at me and said, “Do you know anyone who died?” that I told him about my mom. He could feel the shape of my silence, if not its meaning, and I realized it was my fear, not his, that was keeping me silent. After that, I told them stories about her, and the relief of speaking about her again was like something inside me coming ashore.

I do not know how my children will tell the story of the pandemic, because we are still in it. But what I hope is that they understand that all of our stories are important — not just the ones with happy endings.

Anna Nordberg is a freelance journalist who writes about parenting and culture. Find her on Instagram: @annanordberg_writer.

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Opinion: Montgomery County’s teachers need better working conditions

April 18, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized

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Jennifer Martin is president of the Montgomery County Education Association.

The best part of my job as president of the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) is stopping by schools to talk with colleagues about their experiences on the front lines in public education. While there, I also get to observe and chat with students. Every school visit reinforces the sense of pride I feel in the skill and dedication of my colleagues and reminds me what an honor it is to be entrusted with educating our county’s children.Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates

At a high school, I struggle to keep up with the lanky young man whose stride is easily four of mine as he guides me through the halls and offers his opinions about life. At a middle school, I weave through groups of kids as they verbally jostle to impress each other and scurry or saunter between classes. I am reminded then how a 13-year-old’s bravado covers a host of teenage insecurities. And at an elementary school, little ones peer up at me quizzically and offer shy waves as they line up outside their classrooms waiting to be escorted to the next activity. Their trust, openness and curiosity are beguiling.

But each visit also emphasizes the weighty burden that educators shoulder to make schools welcoming, safe and powerful places of learning for students. Educators are beleaguered and exhausted. Our county must do much more to support their work.

Teachers have been whipsawed over the past two years by those who praise them for their heroism and others who cast unfair blame for months of school building closures that forced us to become instant experts in running virtual classrooms. The return to the school buildings didn’t end the challenges and fears — in fact, the job is pushing many to the breaking point as they cope with staffing shortages while they strive to address the increased challenges our students and families experience.

We must restore respect for the teaching profession, make a career in education attractive to a new generation and supply necessary infrastructure and material resources. With the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future and the unprecedented investment by the federal government in coronavirus recovery funds for education, our school system is poised to make profound improvements in teaching and learning conditions.

To meet the needs of every child, we must do right by the educators who teach them. A recent Education Week article described the national problem of education staffing shortages caused by poor working conditions and overwhelming workloads. These same problems exist in our county, where this month hundreds of classroom positions still remain unfilled. Many staff members have expressed that this will be their last year in the system — and the profession.

Educators are tired of sacrificing countless unpaid hours beyond their workday to fulfill their duties. They are tired of neglecting their own families’ well-being because of work pressures. They are tired of struggling to pay down student debt and find housing they can afford. And they recognize that they possess skills that are highly prized and better paid in other sectors of the economy. As a result, many current teachers are eyeing the exits, and very few college students are now pursuing careers in education. We must increase our commitment to the people who seek to do this crucial work.

Throughout these two years of hardship, the 14,000 members of the Montgomery County Education Association have leveraged their collective power to move mountains to better serve students. They have fought for policies such as adequate student preparation and planning time, wage increases to incentivize and retain educators and substitute teachers, and increases in mental health staffing in schools.

Now is the moment to renew our county’s commitment to giving our students the schools they deserve. Emerging from two years of a health crisis and into a time of managing covid-19, students, families and educators recognize the need to invest in our schools and the people who do the work of educating students. The MCEA calls on our elected county leaders to commit to that investment.

One has already answered that call. Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) released a budget that seizes the opportunity to build back better. Supplying nearly 99 percent of what the Board of Education requested, Elrich’s budget is designed to give teachers and students the support they need.

The Montgomery County Council now has a duty to approve this budget so that educators have the time, resources and working conditions needed to nurture and develop the full potential of our students. Our children’s success and our county’s future prosperity depend on it.

Fading candles, a ‘sad’ horse: Students process pandemic with quilt

April 18, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized

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The quilt block depicted a dove flying through the sky, a coronavirus vaccine in its talons.

The dove, created using dyed merino wool, was dropping the vaccine over the world, Max Tolka, 10, explained to his classmates at Bannockburn Elementary School on Thursday. The artwork represented his hope that the pandemic would nearly be over.

“It took a while, but eventually it’s going to end,” Max said. “You’re almost there.”

The block is among 133 decorated by fourth- and fifth-graders at Bannockburn Elementary School in Bethesda as part of a months-long project to help the students document their feelings about the pandemic. Together, the blocks will form a 45-foot-long, three-foot-tall quilt.

“We gave kids time to actually reflect on the experience,” said Emily Thaler, Bannockburn’s art teacher.“During school, we’re mostly focusing on academics, whereas this time, they’re really able to express themselves in an artistic way and show how they really felt.”

A lot of the students’ artwork shared how alone they felt during the past two yearsand how much they missed their friends and the normal school experience. Some depicted how they felt like the pandemic was an experience that would never end. And then there were students like Max, who tried to capture the hope the vaccine would have on their futures.

Nathan Satlof, a fifth-grader, divided his block into six smaller panels that chronicled his experience at the beginning of the pandemic until February when the class started the project. The first panel showed a candle burning, the flame gradually dimming through each frame. He told his classmates he felt like he was the candle. He hadn’t contracted the coronavirus for a while, he said, but in January, he tested positive. The fading flame represented how eventually, he just “burnt out,” he said.

Emily Winningham, 9, told her peers she chose to illustrate a horse in a stable in herblock, since she loves the animal. But the horse was “sad, because he didn’t have any friends,” she said.

“If you’re in fourth or fifth grade, that’s a huge percentage of your short life that has been taken up by this experience,” said Katherine Dilworth, a visiting visual artist from Baltimore-based nonprofit Arts for Learning Maryland. “It was interesting to watch them talk about in their images, talk about how hard it’s been, but also, there were little inklings that maybe this is going to be the end.”

Perspective: How parents can help themselves, and their children, feel okay again

Dilworth collaborated with Bannockburn’s teachers on the topic, which would help the students also learn about metaphors and how to depict them through art.

The students wrote poetry in their homeroom teacher’s class that captured how they felt throughout the pandemic. They then brought the poems to Dilworth, and looked at New Yorker cartoons and other sources of inspiration to figure out what images they wanted to use. Once they were ready, they created a sketch.

Dilworth then taught the students needle felting, an art form that uses dyed fleece from an animal and special needles to create different images. The needles have a point and tiny barbs at the end of the shaft. When it’s stabbed into a background material — which in this case, was cloth — the barbs catch on the fibers and smooth it out. Unlike sewing, no thread is involved.

“It’s almost like you’re able to sculpt with your needle,” Dilworth said.

Felting is an obscure art form, so many of the students didn’t know how to do it, Dilworth said. But she said that made it easier in the classroom because everyone was able to start from the same place. Students who weren’t typically successful at other art forms took to this, she said.

Mason Qiu, 10, pointed to his quilt block, which showed a coronavirus cell taking over the Earth “because coronavirus felt like it was overpowering — there was nothing we could do,” he said. Smaller coronavirus cells were rotating around the planet in space. Mason said he probably would have made those smaller, but he had “needle problems,” he said, though he liked experimenting with how the wool functioned.

“The wool sometimes decides, ‘Hey, I’m not going to do what you want. I’m going to suddenly fluke this way,’ ” the fifth-grader said. “It’s pretty fun.”

The students used dyed merino wool to construct their quilt blocks, and each took roughly four days to make. Some of the students have been taking panels home to sew them together with other family members. Others have gone to Thaler’s classroom during their lunch periods to help, like they were doing on Thursday.

“Do you guys feel different about the pandemic than when we were making it?” Dilworth asked the class. “Because I feel like we made it in February, and a lot has changed.”

A lot of the children nodded their heads. When they started constructing the quilt, the omicron variant had been sweeping across the D.C. region. Many schools shifted to virtual instruction to curb the spread of the virus. But now that caseloads were down, they were back working together, only a few of them were wearing masks.

“We can, like, get closer and collaborate more than we used to,” one student said.

“Physically, the masks are being taken off,” another student added. “It’s a lot easier to breathe. But mentally, we’re still recovering.”

The quilt, once completed, will be displayed in the elementary school.

National Volunteers Week- “from charity to justice”

April 18, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized

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Michael D. Smith, CEO of AmeriCorps | 760 AM

Dear Ameri-Family,

Today begins National Volunteer Week where we shine a light on the enduring contributions of volunteers and celebrate the generosity of spirit that each of them embodies. Volunteerism and service is a quintessential American value, that unites individuals from diverse backgrounds to make an impact on challenges big and small. From schools and shelters, hospitals and hotlines, to civic, nonprofit, and faith-based organizations across the country, Americans from all walks of life volunteer together for a better future.

For decades, AmeriCorps has worked to make service to others an indispensable part of the American experience. Each of you has played an important role in our collective impact whether it was making volunteer opportunities more equitable and readily accessible or raising your hand to serve in your communities in times of tragedy and triumph.

Service can take us on a path from charity to justice. Whether people are donating to a food bank or advocating to change policies that address food insecurity, their service matters. We owe a debt of gratitude to every volunteer who continues to shape both our neighborhoods and our nation.

As Americans, we belong to one another. Our destinies are connected and each of us has something to give. That’s what makes a more just and fairer world attainable. This week, I hope that all who can, will join me and our fellow neighbors in giving back to your local community, celebrating those who volunteer, and making a commitment to a lifetime of service. Please use the resources below to support your efforts.

Together, we are AmeriCorps.

Michael D. Smith
AmeriCorps CEO

a lost story of Silver Spring

April 15, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized

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StudentCam on Twitter: "Congrats to Tyler & Dermott Foley from Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring, MD who won 2nd Prize for their documentary about COVID-19 school closings and its effect on

https://www.viddler.com/v/72fb7c17

Lion King on Broadway 2022

April 13, 2022 Paul Costello1 Uncategorized

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Use your mouse or arrow keys to explore the show’s iconic opening number.
View on tablet or mobile for a more immersive experience.

THERE IS SIMPLY
NOTHING ELSE LIKE ITTHE NEW YORK TIMES

100+MILLION AUDIENCE MEMBERS WORLDWIDE

70 MAJOR THEATRE AWARDS INTERNATIONALLY

25 PRODUCTIONS AROUND THE WORLD

3RD LONGEST RUNNING BROADWAY SHOW

WATCH A SNEAK PEAKVIEW SHOW PHOTOS

Saw @TheLionKing tonight. What a joyous and triumphant show!! Brilliant casting and superb production values. Congrats to all involved!@louendicottWho’s seen #TheLionKing in #NYC? Amazing show! I can’t believe I waited this long to see it!! Thanks for a great time@MrDrewScottHad a great day @TheLionKing what an amazing show from start to finish, I had goosebumps from the moment the show began@BoJain1985Had a fabulous time @TheLionKing. So creative, clever, emotional and funny. And thanks to all performers who give up weekends for Sun mats!@KTL01Saw @TheLionKing tonight. What a joyous and triumphant show!! Brilliant casting and superb production values. Congrats to all involved!@louendicottWho’s seen #TheLionKing in #NYC? Amazing show! I can’t believe I waited this long to see it!! Thanks for a great time@MrDrewScott

A PERFECT MARRIAGE OF ENTERTAINMENT AND ART.NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

There are 6 indigenous African languages sung and spoken throughout the show:
Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, Congolese

HEAR FROM THE DIRECTOR VIEW BEHING-THE-SCENES PHOTOS
Still can’t stop thinking about the amazing performance last night at @TheLionKing. Loved every second of it!@LibbiWalsh@TheLionKing awesome awesome awesome! Can’t wait to see it for a third time!!@DimasRodeelaSeriously though everyone go and see @TheLionKing musical it is life changing@zeranyabiancaSafe to say @TheLionKing is the best show I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing! Left speechless from start to finish!@KatyMmorganStill can’t stop thinking about the amazing performance last night at @TheLionKing. Loved every second of it!@LibbiWalsh@TheLionKing awesome awesome awesome! Can’t wait to see it for a third time!!@DimasRodeela

A FEAST FOR THE EYES AND EARS.WWOR-TV

LISTEN TO DISNEY PLAYLIST SESSIONS WATCH LYRIC VIDEOS

Nala
Scar
Timon & Pumbaa

Ambition to become a dancing lion has never been greater @TheLionKing@LouisMarguerite@TheLionKing #yeg Pretty freakin’ amazing! I could listen to these guys sing all night #InAwe #MusicToMyEars@RchESsnHAVE CRIED IN EVERY SINGLE SCENE OF @TheLionKing. Except for “Be Prepared” but that’s because I was too busy lifting my jaw from the floor@alit12@TheLionKing was simply amazing! It made me cry, laugh and gave me goosebumps! #breathtaking@BethJackson09Ambition to become a dancing lion has never been greater @TheLionKing@LouisMarguerite@TheLionKing #yeg Pretty freakin’ amazing! I could listen to these guys sing all night #InAwe #MusicToMyEars@RchESsn

THE MOST EXCITING, MOST INVENTIVE, MOST MOVING THEATER THAT HAS EVER COME TO BROADWAY.NEWSWEEK

<p>Scar’s mask weighs 9 ounces and Mufasa’s mask weighs 11 ounces. Each mask…”/></figure>

<p>DID YOU KNOW?</p>

<p>Scar’s mask weighs 9 ounces and Mufasa’s mask weighs 11 ounces. Each mask is roughly the weight of one banana.</p>

<figure class=

<p>The tallest animals in the show are the exotic giraffes in the song “I Just…”/></figure>

<p>DID YOU KNOW?</p>

<p>The tallest animals in the show are the exotic giraffes in the song “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.”</p>

<figure class=

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Posts by Paul Costello1

What Should Education Value?

Education SystemONE Manifesto of Values

Effort over Talent

Giving over Taking

Action over Planning

Humanity over Culture

Innovation over Propriety

Learning over Teaching

Evidence over Eminence

Openness over Ownership

Competency over Curricula

Application over Assignments

Accepting Uncertainty over Predictability

COVID:19 Scale of education loss ‘nearly insurmountable’, warns UNICEF

Tying shoes, opening bottles: Pandemic kids lack basic life skills

‘Little bickerings and fights’

Reading buddies and letter-writing

More on the pandemic and schools

The Most Powerful Life Lessons From The Lion King

Top 10 Empowering Life Lessons From The Lion King

The Lion King Music (Sing along!) & More

The Lion King Galleries

How Lion King went from a movie to a stage show
Behind the Curtain

JULIE TAYMOR ON THE LASTING LEGACY OF THE LION KING

ELTON JOHN’S SURPRISE PERFORMANCE AT THE LION KING

Family stories aren’t fairy tales — but kids still need to hear them

Opinion: Montgomery County’s teachers need better working conditions

Fading candles, a ‘sad’ horse: Students process pandemic with quilt

National Volunteers Week- “from charity to justice”

a lost story of Silver Spring

Lion King on Broadway 2022

Recent Posts

Menu

Posts by Paul Costello1

What Should Education Value?

Education SystemONE Manifesto of Values

Effort over Talent

Giving over Taking

Action over Planning

Humanity over Culture

Innovation over Propriety

Learning over Teaching

Evidence over Eminence

Openness over Ownership

Competency over Curricula

Application over Assignments

Accepting Uncertainty over Predictability

COVID:19 Scale of education loss ‘nearly insurmountable’, warns UNICEF

Tying shoes, opening bottles: Pandemic kids lack basic life skills

‘Little bickerings and fights’

Reading buddies and letter-writing

More on the pandemic and schools

The Most Powerful Life Lessons From The Lion King

Top 10 Empowering Life Lessons From The Lion King

The Lion King Music (Sing along!) & More

The Lion King Galleries

How Lion King went from a movie to a stage showBehind the Curtain

JULIE TAYMOR ON THE LASTING LEGACY OF THE LION KING

ELTON JOHN’S SURPRISE PERFORMANCE AT THE LION KING

Family stories aren’t fairy tales — but kids still need to hear them

Opinion: Montgomery County’s teachers need better working conditions

Fading candles, a ‘sad’ horse: Students process pandemic with quilt

National Volunteers Week- “from charity to justice”

a lost story of Silver Spring

Lion King on Broadway 2022

Recent Posts

How Lion King went from a movie to a stage show
Behind the Curtain